Police search for mother and daughter

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Police and emergency services workers yesterday searched a Mount Eliza nature reserve and a nearby lake as part of the investigation into missing Mornington woman Anna Kemp and her 20-month-old daughter Gracie.

Police would not say whether the operation was a response to a tip-off, but said the intensive search had not produced any new evidence.

Detectives from the missing persons and homicide squads joined 15 State Emergency Service workers in a morning search of the 106-hectare Mount Eliza Regional Park.

The park contains areas of thick undergrowth, a narrow creek and picnic area. It is about 15 kilometres from the home Ms Kemp, 41, who is pregnant, shared with husband John Sharpe, 41.

The search centred on a small lake, with a team of police divers wading and prodding amid the chilly water and reeds for almost two hours. Children watched and fed ducks on the water as the dive team criss-crossed the lake.

Mr Sharpe was at his parents' Mornington home.

Valerie Sharpe said her son was sleeping and was on prescribed medication to help him cope with the stress.

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"His doctor has told him not to say anything," she said.

Mrs Sharpe said her son had been told by police that they were intending to search the Mount Eliza Reserve.

Ms Kemp and Gracie were last seen on March 23, but Mr Sharpe has told police he saw his wife and child five days later.

Ms Kemp was five months pregnant at the time of her disappearance and Mr Sharpe says he is not the father of her unborn child.

Late last month Mr Sharpe made an emotional plea for his wife to come forward and denied that he had harmed Ms Kemp or his daughter in any way.

Last week, investigating officers revealed that the missing woman's credit card had been used to withdraw money five times after her disappearance.